Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World

The expansions for Civilization V are primarily concerned with reimplementing features that were arbitrarily removed between the fourth and fifth installments. However, unlike Gods & Kings, which exclusively repackaged old features with altered forms, Brave New World also adds ideas of its own into the mix. The biggest old-but-new mechanic is tourism, a major component of the cultural victory route, which has been overhauled with an interesting new layer of strategy and complexity. It’s tied in with the all-new archaeology system, where players can uncover relics of events that took place hundreds of turns ago and display them for cultural capital. And if that isn’t the coolest game mechanic you’ve ever heard of, you’re probably not the audience for Civilization anyway.

The United Nations appears in expanded form as well, now allowing votes for things like banning certain resources and establishing international projects. Of all things, even the caravan-based trade routes from the first two games return, newly integrated with modern Civ systems like religion. With all of this in place, Civilization V not only finally feels complete, but it may in fact be the best way to experience the series. Its main competition is the previous numbered release with Beyond the Sword installed. The choice is mostly down to individual priorities: do you prefer the improved combat and visuals of V or the more convenient interface and more competent AI of IV?